Emirates has reached a landmark in its US$ 5 billion cabin retrofit and upgrade programme, with 100 aircraft interiors now refurbished. Since work began on this huge programme in November 2022, 47 Airbus A380s and 53 Boeing 777s have been given a complete nose-to-tail refresh at the Emirates Engineering facility in Dubai.
The work is not complete, and by the end of December 2026, around 20 additional aircraft are due to have been upgraded, moving the airline past the halfway point in the programme, which in 2024 was expanded to encompass 219 aircraft.
The figures involved in the work are impressive. The Emirates Engineering division has dedicated more than 400 engineers and technicians to the programme, investing a collective 4.4 million man hours to date to upgrade 100 aircraft cabin interiors.
Over those 44 months the Emirates Engineering team has retrofitted an average of 28 aircraft a year. As part of every retrofit, engineers completely take apart the interiors of the aircraft, and carry out a thorough refresh across all cabins (a task that requires more than 4,000 parts for an A380 and more than 2,500 for a Boeing 777).
As part of the work, every aircraft has been retrofitted with a Premium Economy cabin. More than 3,800 new premium economy seats have been installed so far, helping Emirates meet strong demand for this travel class.
A recent development, in May 2026, saw the Emirates Engineering team complete the retrofit of an A380 from a two-class layout to a three-class layout, which involved structural changes to the aircraft to accommodate the Premium Economy cabin in the upper deck.
Starting October 2026, the Emirates retrofit programme will enter its next phase with the installation of 4K OLED HDR10+ seatback IFE displays, along with the introduction of new lightweight Safran Z400 economy-class seats, among other product modifications.
Engineering innovation
The scale of the project has required the Emirates Engineering team to develop new work systems, including the use of modified catering trucks inside the hangars that move large parts to and from the retrofit workshop to the aircraft.
The team has also developed a means to track progress in different work zones, and introduced specialist parts storage and retrieval procedures. Emirates Engineering has also designed and manufactured several pieces of specialist equipment for moving components within work zones and accessing all areas of aircraft interiors. Emirates Engineering is working with more than 100 suppliers to execute this project.
Upcycling cabin materials
The huge level of parts replacements involves thousands of kilograms of high-grade leather, fabrics and other materials being removed from aircraft. These materials are being upcycled into a variety of limited-edition pieces such as the ‘Aircrafted by Emirates’ range of luggage. Emirates has also distributed over 4,000 backpacks made from repurposed Economy Class seat fabric to children across 11 countries.
“Completing full cabin retrofits for 100 widebody aircraft in 44 months is a significant achievement,” said Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline. “Executing a project of this magnitude and complexity entirely in-house has required unmatched planning, precision, craftsmanship and technical capabilities here in Dubai.
“Our team has completely rewritten the rulebook on retrofitting the two largest passenger aircraft in commercial aviation to make sure that every aircraft returns to the skies on schedule and in impeccable shape.”
